Bergen Metal Fest XII | 24. -27. August 2011

A Tribute to Quorthon

A Tribute to Quorthon (NO)

HITS appearances

2004, Saturday 28 Aug

On Monday June 7th the sad news of BATHORY mastermind Thomas “Quorthon” Forsbergs demise broke. The 39-year-old son of Black Mark Records owner Börje Forsberg, was widely considered to be one of black metal’s founding fathers, died of an apparent heart failure.

There is no lie telling that Norwegian black metal would have been something completely different if it weren’t for the foundation Quorthon laid down with his groundbreaking approach to extreme music in the beginning of the eighties. Echoes of seminal classics as “The Return”, “Under the Sign of the Black Mark”, “Blood Fire Death” and many more, is omnipresent in the rise of Norwegian Black Metal that surfaced in the late eighties and grew strong during the nineties.

To pay their respect to the memory Quorthon and his work, a line-up of well-established Norwegian Black Metal musicians has gathered to perform a selection of classic Bathory material during the Hole in the Sky festival. These being in alphabetical order: Abbath (ex-Immortal), Apollyon (Aura Noir), Faust (ex-Emperor), Gaahl (Gorgoroth), Grutle, Ivar (Enslaved), Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone), Samoth (Zyklon/ex-Emperor) and Satyr (Satyricon).

The board of Hole in the Sky has the outmost respect for all the musicians lending their valuable time to make this a memorable event in the memory of Quorthon and his work of brilliance.

A share of the profits of the festival will be donated to Black Mark.

Says Satyricon front man Satyr Wongraven: “Hearing about Quorthon’s death was just sad. 39 years old you know…Bathory made a huge impact on Frost and myself and it was the first Black Metal band I ever got into. This was in 86/87. Ever since I’ve been a big fan and his work has influenced me to do what I do today. In one of the first bands I played in, we did a cover of “Sacrifice” live and Satyricon recorded its first cover ever with “Born for burning” for the “In conspiracy with Satan” Bathory

tribute. Very few people have ever met or talked to Quorthon. He chose to be for himself and not be a part of the scene or anything like that. Obviously this was a big part in making him the cult figure he will always be. I was lucky enough to talk to him on the phone back in 95/96 a couple of times. The first time we talked for like three hours! and I found him to be a very friendly, interesting and well-spoken man. Our video director Jonas Åkerlund played with Quorthon on their first record and he has told me many good stories about those days. Thank you for what you did for music Quorthon. Everyone, light 13 candles and play your Bathory records in memory of the king!”

“Needless to say Quorthon and his mighty Bathory had a huge impact on me as a musician and definitely sparked my fascination for Black Metal in the early days. It was sad to hear of his early death… Quorthon was already a legend for years, and left behind an epic testimony blood, fire and death! May he rule among the gods of Valhalla!” Samoth (Zyklon/ ex-Emperor)